Course Syllabus

Research In Educational Services (EVAL 65511)

Summer/Intersession 2018 (May 21 – June 10)
Web-Based

Instructors:

Jason Schenker Evan Faidley

jschenke@kent.edu efaidley@kent.edu
507F White Hall Cell: (330) 631-3637
Office: (330) 672-5797 Office hours: By appointment
Office hours: By appointment

Required Text:
Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. G. (2009). Research methods in education: An introduction. Boston,
MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN# 9780205581924

Credit Hours: 3
Course Status: Graduate
Prerequisites: Graduate Standing

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the purposes and practices of
research related to educational services. The focus of this course will be on understanding the
elements research of research methods used in the field and using the products of research to
support and enhance practice. Authentic research examples will be used throughout the course as
illustrations of the many different methods of conducting research related to educational
services. It is designed to allow students to become informed consumers of all forms of research
used in the social sciences and allied health fields. Students will be able to identify various
research approaches and the strengths and limitations associated with different approaches.

Course Objectives: At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Formulate questions that can be tested with appropriate research designs.

2. Identify the variables in research articles that appear in research articles, such as those
contained in the professional literature.
3. Apply the concepts of validity and reliability to research.
4. Identify the threats to validity inherent in various empirical studies.
5. Identify the limitations inherent in various empirical studies.
6. Competently evaluate previously conducted research.
7. Distinguish among the basic research designs.
8. Understand the basic principles of sampling, data collection, and data analysis.
9. Use the library to search the literature for research articles.
10. Use other research databases, such as Google scholar to search for research articles.
Requirements:
1. Complete reading of chapters and topics before beginning units.
2. Participation in assigned activities and discussions.
3. Complete all self assessments.

Layout of the Course-Room

There are four important aspects of the course-room (found at http://learn.kent.edu/ ) that you
must be aware of as they will be required for you to pass this course. These include the
announcement function, the home page, the learning module page, and the discussion thread of
the course room.

The Announcement function will be used frequently by me to post important notes within the
course room to all students. However, I have the option of also sending announcements out as
email messages, so you will be able to view them within your email or by clicking on the
announcement functions.

The Home Page is the first page you will see when you sign into Blackboard Learn. This
includes links to a variety of functions and course resources.

The Learning Module Page is where the background to the units is presented and you can also
complete most activities for the course from the homepage. The Learning Module page is where
all units are presented and if you click on these you will see a brief chapter description, learning
objectives for the unit, a link to the unit discussion questions, and a link for graded self-
assessments that are included in some units (1,2,3,5,6,8,10,12,13).

A note about these self-assessments---these are my way of seeing how much you understand of
the chapters you will read. There are 5 questions for each self-assessment worth one point each.
PLEASE do not attempt these assessments without having read the chapter FIRST—all the
questions come from the text. Once you initiate the self-assessment you have ONE HOUR to
complete the assessment although if you read the chapter I think you will find that these will not
take that long. Once you complete the assessment your responses will be automatically graded
and you will know how many points you have earned for that unit. You are not allowed to go
back and change answers once you submit the assessment.

The Discussion Thread is accessed by clicking on the thumbnail that says ‘Discussion’ and has a
little thumbtack next to it. It is within the discussion thread that you can post responses for the
unit and respond to others. You can also see what students are saying to other students there as
well. You CANNOT complete unit self-assessments from the discussion thread.

Please be aware that toward the bottom of the discussion thread you will see a section Labeled as
“Uncategorized Topics” and in that section you will see areas called the cyber café (for you to
communicate with others on an informal basis), updates and handouts (where I will post
additional information that may be needed), ask the instructor (where you can post question to
me that I will respond to for the benefit of all students), and then there is the syllabus (where this
document will be posted should you lose it).

Unit Discussions:
For this intersession course there are a total of 15 units to be completed with 15 discussion
questions to respond to. Please note that there are actually more units listed on the homepage and
in the discussion thread of the course but units that are not required have a little blue lock next to
them.
Your active participation in the Course Room is one major component of your learning and the
grade you will receive in this course. For each discussion question you must post a substantive
response of your own as well as a response/feedback to at least one other student in the course.
A substantive response to a discussion question is more than posting opinions---a substantive
response draws on theory, practice, cogent observations, as well as integrative critical thinking. It
is best to support points with material from the text or any other resources you may find for the
course. Likewise a substantive response to another student is more than "good posting" or
"thanks for sharing that information with us." A substantive response draws on theory, practice,
cogent observations and critical thinking. A sample post (full points) to a unit is provided below:

Sample post for Qualitative Research Discussion:

There are several key assumptions or epistemologies associated with qualitative approaches to
research. “Essentially, when we are talking about the epistemology of qualitative research we
mean underlying assumptions and basic ideas of how research is conducted” (Wiersma & Jurs,
201). Wiersma and Jurs summarize these assumptions in five points.
“1. Phenomena should be viewed holistically, and complex phenomena cannot be reduced to a
few factors or partitioned into independent parts.
2. The researcher operates in a natural setting because of the concern for context and, to the
extent possible, should maintain an openness about what will be observed, collected, etc., in
order to avoid missing something important. This results in flexibility in design and even the
possibility of an evolving design as the research proceeds.
3. It is the perceptions of those being studied that are important, and, to the extent possible, these
perceptions are to b e captured in order to obtain an accurate “measure” of reality. “Meaning” is
as perceived or experienced by those being studied, it is not imposed by the researcher.
4. A priori assumptions, and certainly a priori conclusions, are to be avoided in favor of post hoc
conclusion. Assumptions and conclusions are subject to change as the research proceeds.
5. Phenomena in the world are perceived as a somewhat loosely constructed model, one in which
there is flexibility in prediction, for example, and one that is not run in a mechanistic manner
according to a set of laws” (201-202).

When a researcher collects data for qualitative research they must have access to the situation
(Wiersma & Jurs). “Data collection may be interactive or noninteractive. . . interactive
techniques involve the researcher interacting with subjects who are being studied, noninteractive
techniques lack such interaction” (204). Data collection can include, but is not limited to,
interviews and observations.

Data collection and analysis go hand in hand. Once data collection begins analysis can begin
shortly after. As time goes on data collection decreases and analysis increases (Wiersma & Jurs).
“Data analysis in qualitative research is a process of categorization, description, and synthesis”
(Wiersma & Jurs, 207). While working through the data analysis the hypothesis is kept in mind.
“All in all, analysis in qualitative research is a process of successive approximations toward an
accurate description and interpretation of the phenomenon” (Wiersma & Jurs, 206).

Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S.G. (2005) Research methods in education: An introduction. Boston, MA:
Allyn & Bacon.

A sample response to this post (full points) is included below:

Great post on qualitative research. It seems you clearly understand the main elements in the
chapter. I like how you mention that the hypothesis is kept in mind throughout the data collection
process. We know from our text that the hypothesis in qualitative research can change
throughtout the data collection. Questions and foreshadowing are done at the beginning and can
be changed or even deleted after data collection begins (p. 204).
Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S.G. (2009). Research methods in education: an introduction. Boston, Ma:
Alyyn & Bacon.

Each discussion post is worth 3 points and points for each unit discussion question will be
evaluated in this manner:

Responding to Others:
1 point for a response to another learner that meets the substantive response criteria above
½ point for a response that does not meets the substantive response criteria above
0 points for no post

Your Post:
2 points for a response that meets the substantive response criteria above
1 point for a response that does not meets the substantive response criteria above
0 points for no post

If the quality of your postings needs improvement I will make suggestions to you. You should
monitor your progress and note grades for discussion threads that do not result in the full 3
points. You are strongly encouraged to use this as a creative and friendly forum to explore
questions and ideas.

Any reference made to an author, study, theory, etc., used in the body of your posting should be
accompanied by a full citation and at the conclusion of your posting and you will need to
indicate the reference (does NOT have to be APA format).

This course is asynchronous (you do not have to be logged-on or in the course-room when I am)
and all units are open from the very start of the course. While you can complete units as quickly
as you like there are a MINIMUM number of units and self-assessments required for each week
(the end of the week is Sunday).

Weekly Expectations:

Posts must also be made in a timely manner. You will be required to complete the discussions for
5 units per week. (Please note you can complete the self-assessments at any time before the
conclusion of the course, but I recommend that you keep up on them). Each week ends at
midnight on Sunday, with the exception of the last week, which ends on Friday. As this class will
be only three weeks long, the schedule is as follows:

Week 1 (May 21 – May 27): Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Week 2 (May 28 – June 3): Units 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Week 3 (June 4 – June 8): Units 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Unit posts made after the due date will only receive 2 points of the possible three.

All complete postings are due no later than Midnight on Friday of the last week of class.

You will notice in each unit, there are 1-2 questions. Please label them accordingly when
responding. For example: Unit 1/Discussion 1 or even better---U1/D1, U1/D2, U2/Dl, U2/D2
you get the idea. At the end of each unit, I will post announcements and a summary.

ALSO, please sign your full name at the end of your posting. I want to give credit to the right
learner.
Self Assessments:
These are my way of seeing how much you understand of the chapters you will read. There are 5
questions for each self-assessment worth one point each. Units 1,2,3,6,7,9,11,13, and 14 have
self-assessments to complete. PLEASE do not attempt these assessments without having read the
chapter FIRST—all the questions come from the text. Once you initiate the self-assessment you
have ONE HOUR to complete the assessment although if you read the chapter I think you will
find that these will not take that long. Once you complete the assessment your responses will be
automatically graded and you will know how many points you have earned for that unit. You are
not allowed to go back and change answers once you submit the assessment.

Evaluation of Student Work:

Self Assessments: 9 @ 5 Points each (45 points)
Discussion Posts: 15 @ 3 Points each (45 points)

Total Points: 90 points

Grading Scale:
Points Grade
84-90 A
81-83 A-
77-80 B+
74-76 B
71-73 B-
68-70 C+
65-67 C
61-64 C-
58-60 D+
55-57 D
51-54 D-
Less Than 51 F

Accommodation of Student Needs:

Students needing special arrangements for test taking, note taking, special print, or other
considerations for successful completion of the course should contact the instructor as soon as
possible.
Welcome Note and More Explanations (some may be redundant)

Hello and welcome to EDUC 65511—Research Methods. As course instructor/facilitator, I wish to

emphasize that this course is very dependent on your active participation in order to be successful……and
actually, your overall course grade depends heavily on this ACTIVE participation.

I am looking forward to building an online community and learning new ideas from everyone. And, I
hope you are all eager to extend your knowledge of research designs used in education and the social
sciences. This course will be like no other (or very few) that you have had in the past. It is NOT a course
that teaches you or helps you learn about “how to research an idea” (this is what many of you have done
in other courses where you’ve been asked to write a literature review) nor does it teach you how to
conduct a study---we save that for training those in the PhD program. Rather, the focus is on helping you
become a more critical consumer of research being conducted in your respective fields so that you all can
become better practitioners---after all, not everyone has the desire or need to become a full-time
researcher.

In each of your courses, the course instructor has the opportunity to express his/her expectations and
particular requirements for the course. This is essential to any course and below I will briefly explain my
expectations for this course. The expectations and requirements are presented by category for ease of
reading and referencing. This document, faculty expectations, is the document that will completely
describe MY expectations and requirements so please read this carefully---in the end, reading these
expectations and requirements will save you many hours on work that is not required for MY course.

For those of you who are familiar with online courses, taking this one will be different regarding content
but not process. For those who have never taken an online course before, BE PATIENT! There is a steep
learning curve in understanding the technical aspects and we have consultants here at KSU’s help desk
available to work with you on these issues. You must have computer capabilities to access the course-
room and to read pop-up messages---if you do not, you will NOT be able to access all the information in
the course. Not having these capabilities will not be an excuse for missing assignments or important
information so please be sure your computer settings are adjusted accordingly.

INSTRUCTOR COMMUNICATION

By phone at: Jason Schenker: Cell (330) 714-7149 or Office (330) 672-5797
Evan Faidley: Cell (330) 631-3637

E-mail communication is welcome at anytime at jschenke@kent.edu or efaidley@kent.edu . NOTE: If

you do not receive a reply from one of us within 24 hours, then assume that we did not receive it and re-
send it or give me a call. Please include some type of identifier in the “Subject” section of your email
(something like EDUC65511) so that we know that it is coming from a class member. While we attempt
to answer e-mail daily, we may not answer (or open) email from unknown sources.

I (Jason Schenker) can be available via Skype if requested and we are unable meet in person at my office.

If I am planning on being unavailable due to travel or unforeseen events, I will post a message in the
course room.

I look forward to working with you.

Some common learner tips are included below for the new course-room.
Q: What is Blackboard Learn?
Learn is the newest version of Blackboard that we are now using at Kent State University. To login to
Learn go to http://learn.kent.edu

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To access Blackboard Learn in your browser address bar type: http://learn.kent.edu . To reach Blackboard
Learn if you have logged into Flashline: Click on the Student Tools & Courses tab and then on
Blackboard Single Sign On on the left-hand navigation.

Q: What is my login ID and password?

Use your Flashline username and password to login to Blackboard Learn.

Q: I bookmarked Blackboard Learn on my computer, but when I tried to access Learn from it, it
wouldn't open the login page.
Do NOT use bookmarks with Blackboard Learn. Type the URL http://learn.kent.edu in the address bar of
the browser.

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Download and run Ad-Aware/Spybot to remove any suspected spyware.

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You must have Java enabled in order to use Blackboard Learn.

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If you are running the Personal Firewall/Internet Security Suite, try disabling everything except
VirusScan.

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document."
You should set your browser to hide friendly HTTP error messages.

For Internet Explorer: From under tools in your browser click Internet Options. Under the Advanced tab
scroll down to Browsing and uncheck the Show friendly HTTP error messages.

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Go to the Help website - http://helpdesk.kent.edu